77. On the Big, Bold Choice of The Self-Employed Life with Jeffrey Shaw

Overview

Today I’m joined by Jeffrey Shaw, author of The Self Employed Life and host of the podcast of the same name. Jeffrey is a champion of self-employment and through his book, podcast, institute, and coaching guides people to lead a successful life of self-employment.

In this conversation, we hear what pulled Jeffrey into self-employment for his entire career and what’s given him the focus to support others choosing this courageous path. We cover a lot of ground discussing what calls people to self-employment, the importance of giving yourself a runway before making the leap, getting clear on who you are and your offer, accepting the integration between our businesses and our lives, and much more.

Jeffrey - Thank you so much for being on! I so appreciate all the work you do to champion self-employment and to guide those courageous souls choosing this path.

More About Our Guest

From humble beginnings, Jeffrey Shaw became one of the most preeminent portrait photographers in the United States. His on-location style and fine craftsmanship made him the go-to photographer for families of C-suite executives of Anheuser-Busch, Twitter, and many others, Supermodel Stephanie Seymour, news anchors Jim Nantz and David Bloom, sports icons Tom Seaver, Pat Riley, and Wall Street executives too many to mention. His portraits appeared on The Oprah Show, CBS News, in People and O Magazine and hang at Harvard University and The Norman Vincent Peale Center.

After 35 years of exceptional service to his exclusive clientele, Jeffrey decided to share his knowledge of business, branding, and marketing to support self-employed and small business owners as well as progressive-minded companies. He's an in-demand keynote speaker at conferences such as HOW Design, Growth Marketing, corporations the likes of Verizon and BMW, and institutions such as Florida Atlantic University and the Adams Center for Entrepreneurship. Jeffrey is also the author of two books, LINGO and The Self-Employed Life, a LinkedIn Learning instructor, and a regular contributor to various publications.

In 2014, Jeffrey started a podcast, Creative Warriors, later rebranded as The Self-Employed Life which is amongst the top 15% of all podcasts. His TEDx LincolnSquare talk was later moved to TED.com which is so rare it’s been said you have a better chance of getting hurt at home by your toilet.

Topics Covered

  • We start by hearing what pulled Jeffrey into self-employment for his entire career and what’s given him the focus to support others choosing this courageous path.

  • Jeffrey shares what is generally pulling people into self-employment, especially now coming out of the pandemic. It’s not what you think.

  • Wondering if self-employment is calling you? What are the clues? Jeffrey encourages people to listen to the longing and pay attention to the inkling that they are being called to step out on their own.

  • He suggests planning and prepping ideally for at least 12 months before making the leap.

  • A lot of what self-employment is about, from Jeffrey’s perspective, is choosing to have a different lifestyle.

  • I love how Jeffrey pushes against some of the common ways of thinking about self-employment, ambition, and the realities of life+work integration. I appreciate that he says, “What burns us out is what we're fighting against.”

  • We dig into why claiming the term “self-employment” is important and how it can signal something about you just by saying, “I’m self-employed.” And, he really encourages not ignoring, but rather claiming, the integration between our businesses and our lives, and to be proud of both.

  • I love how Jeffrey brings a balance to so many of his concepts. There’s a duality to the self-employed life (e.g., business with a soul, effort and surrender, goals that are directional but not definite).

  • Jeffreys speaks about why trust is important in self-employment and his concept of growth jet lag. Growth jet lag speaks to what he says is the “period of time between your growth and before you get recognized for your growth.”

  • We speak on the the importance of community for stepping out on one’s own, and Jeffrey’s Self Employed Business Institute is one such community to consider.

  • We close with Jeffrey’s final counsel: do the work to get clarity of who you are (what’s meaningful to you, understand your core brand message), who you serve, what you offer, and on how you need to communicate that to the world.

Resources Mentioned

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77. On the Big, Bold Choice of The Self-Employed Life with Jeffrey Shaw

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2022-2Kathy OnetoRight Aspiration, Right Success